European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship said: "Europe's economy cannot survive in a sustainable way if it cannot rely on a strong and profoundly reshaped industrial base. Industry is a big contributor to the real economy producing real values. All efforts need to be undertaken to secure a modern, low carbon, competitive and robust industry in Europe. I call on all who can and like to contribute to the planned reshape our industrial policy to let us know what they think should be done.“

Developing new policies to boost the competitiveness of European industry is the aim of a new public consultation, which is meant to provide input for the review of the industrial policy communication planned for September 2012. It will focus on developing a limited number of new initiatives that can deliver substantial results in the short-term.

Moreover new policy initiatives should have a demonstrable and significant impact on competitiveness, growth and jobs.

The consultation

The main objectives of the consultation are to discuss what policy priorities the European Commission should focus on and to gather recommendations from stakeholders on how to boost competitiveness of European industries.

The public consultation will encourage stakeholders and others to consider questions like:

Which are the major policy priorities facing European industry today?

How can businesses themselves better respond to these issues?

What can policymakers do to address the issues at Member state, local or regional level?

What can policymakers do to address the issues at EU level?

What are the issues covered by the consultation?

The questionnaire identifies a number of key areas for possible policy intervention and asks for stakeholders' views on options for changes. Some of the issues covered are the following:

SME-friendly business environment and entrepreneurship

Access to finance and risk capital

Industrial innovation and technologies policy

Skills, restructuring and structural change

Improving the Single Market

ICT, internet and cross-border sales

Better and more consistent regulation

Energy infrastructure and competition

Internal transport market

Environmental regulations

Resource-efficiency and recycling

Energy and climate

International market access and global competition

Access to raw materials

The original industrial policy flagship adopted in October 2010 identified the importance of a strong, diversified and competitive industrial base for the EU economy and set out a strategy for industrial competitiveness, sustainable economic growth and job creation. The review will contain a comprehensive progress report on the implementation of this strategy and its reinforcement.

European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship said: "Europe's economy cannot survive in a sustainable way if it cannot rely on a strong and profoundly reshaped industrial base. Industry is a big contributor to the real economy producing real values. All efforts need to be undertaken to secure a modern, low carbon, competitive and robust industry in Europe. I call on all who can and like to contribute to the planned reshape our industrial policy to let us know what they think should be done.“